Schwarz's masterful melodrama

It is said that marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly. But is it fair to say that Jon Kepilkowsky is a coward because he's cheating on his wife, Ginny, with a cute young co-worker? Or is he a victim doomed to repeat the same mistakes made a generation ago in this same Wisconsin town? These are the delicious questions posed by Christina Schwarz (Drowning Ruth) in her...

When friendship is fodder for fiction

No sophomore slump for Christina Schwarz. All is Vanity is just as good as Drowning Ruth, the debut novel that won critical acclaim and a coveted slot as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000. What this book shares with Schwarz's popular first novel are strong characters, evoked through multiple first-person narration. The novel focuses on two couples: Margaret and Ted in New York, and Letty...